Planogra



M. E. EVAN'S.

LOCKING TONGUE FOR FENCEPOSTS, sic.

APPLICATION FILED DEC- 31.1918.

1 3 1 5,220 I Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

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WITNESSES THE COLUMBIA PLANQGRAPH c0-. WASHINGTON, D. c.

'nrrni) STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN Evans, 015 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Application filed December 31, 1918. Serial No. 269,136.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, MARTIN.E. EVANS, a

resident .of Pittsburgh, in the county of Alle gheny and State ofPennsylvania, have ill. vented a new and useful lmprovement 1nLocking-Tongues for Fenceposts, 800., of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to inetallicfence posts and other supports andspacing members, such, for instance, as used for concrete reinforcement,to support metallic lathing,

shingles, and thelik l The object of the invention is to provide ametallic post or other support with punched out tongues, integral atoneend with the post or other support, for fastening and spacing the wiresand other members to be secured to the post or support, and whichtongues are formed with means to enter and lock the free end of thetongue in a tongue slot, thereby forming in effect a staple which is anintegral part of the post or support and which provides astronge'ifastener and one not so liable to break, as such tongues here toforeformed. A further object is to provide tongues of such form that theirfree ends can belnterlocked 1n tongue slots by the use of ordinarytools, or even by a hammer aloneybyan ordinary workman. i

As the invention is particularly adapted for plate metal fence posts, itis illustrated and described in connection withthis particular use, butit will be understood that the invention is not limited to thisparticular use, but is adapted for any of the various uses abovespecified.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 illustrates a wlre fence postembodying one form of the invention; Fig. 2 is anelevation.

of a portion of the post showing one form of locking tongue; Figs. 8 and4 are vertical sectional views of the post showing the tongue bothbefore and after being locked in position; Fig. 5 is an elevation of aportion of a fence post showing a modified form of the invention; andFigs. 6 and 7 are vertical sectional views of the post showing modifiedways of utilizing the locking tongue.

In all of the view-s of the drawing 1 indicates a metalliofenoe post and2 the wires secured thereto. Such posts are formed of.

thin plate metal, bent either to tubular form, forming a so-calledclosed post, or to U or concave form, forming a so-called open post. Thetongues for fastening the wires to the post are indicated by thereference numeral 3, the same being punched out of the plate metal,being integral with theplate metal at one of their ends and bent outwardly from the body of the plate to permit of insertion of the wiresbetween the same Specification of Letters Patent; L i l Sept, 9, 1919,.i

and the outer face of the post, and which tongues, in all forms are soformed that tllGlI'. free ends can enter and be lnterlocked in a tongueslot, theslot formed either by punching out the particular tongue underconsideration, or the slotformedby punchiing out anadjacent tongue. i

hese tongues are preferably punched out While the plate isin the flat,and since they extend lengthwise of the post, the curving of the platetransversely to the tubular or U-shape, narrows these slots somewhat onthe inner face of the plate, so that they are I10 longer of the fullwidth of the tongues punched therefrom. Consequently if the end of atongue is forced back through the slot from which it was punched, any enlargement on the tongue will interlock be hindthe side wallsof the slot.This principle is utilized in the various forms of tongues illustrated.

In the form shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4- the tongue 3 is provided witha narrow portion 4, below its end or head portion 5. With thisform',*after the wire 2 is inserted, the end of thetongue is bent downuntil its head can enter through the under portion 6 of the slot, justbelow the narrow portion 4, then forced therethrough, as shown in Fig.8.

This canxbe done by merely tapping the tongue with a hammer to firstbend it and i then force its head through the slot. The

free end of the tongue is thenlifted slightly,

bya suitable tool or by lifting on the wire 2, thereby bringing its head5 behind the edges of the narrow slot portion 4, and forming theinterlock, as shown in Fig. 4:.

Fig. 5 shows a modification in which the i i slot. This form allowsfor acertain'amount of variation as to the 'final' position ofthe tongue V InFigs. 6 and 7 th'e'free'end of the tongue,- instead of being interlockedwith the slot from which it is punched, is'interlocked with the slotimmediately below it,l*ig. (3 showing the tongue bent downwardly on theoutside of'the post and Fig. 7 showing the tongue bent downwardly on theinside of the post.

narrower portion of said slot;

movedjto final position by first giving an ini: tialsharp bend to-bringtheir ends into the wide portions of the slots whichthey are to enter,and then by properly tapping the tongues withahamlmer they can becausedto bend to the desired final position;

Various other modifications obviously can be made in the form of theinterlocking tongue. With all forms described-the tongue is integral atone end with the metal of the post or other support, and said tongue isso 1 formed, that its vfree end is entered into and interlocked inatongue slot, thus forming in effect a staple which furnishes a strongsupport for the Wire or other member to be fas tened to the post orsupport and throwing any strains which may be brought upon the wire uponboth ends of the tongue; As a consequence these tongues are stronger andnot as liabletobreak, as with tongues as,

heretofore used, in which thefreeend ofthe' tongue was not interlockedwith the' post, and, as a consequence the entire strain was throw uponthe root of the tongue, thus resulting in frequent breakage.

The poster similar memben described can be fabricated by punching thetongnes from one side of the body of the plate.

All formsof tongues described can be,

the plate metal while in the Hat, with ordinary gang punching machinery,either rotary or reciprocatory, or combined rotary and reciprocatory.The dies for punching the tongues from the fiat will also beso formed asto bend the tongues outwardly to Or the tongues can be left in normalposition, the

necessary bending being effected by the erector. All of the operationsof manufacture are simple, and add nothing to the cost of manufacturingsimilar articles with integral tongues.

I claim 1; A plate metal post or spacing member,

provided with locking tongues punched from the metal of said memberwithout removing metal therefrom, thereby forming complement-a1 slots,said tongues and slots being wide at theirfree ends and narrower at the]r intermediate portions and again wider at =the1r bases, the baseportions belng at least as wide as the free end portions, whereby atongue can be entered into and locked in its slot without twisting, byentering its wide end portion through the widened base portion of theslot and moving the end of said tongue to bring its widened portionbehind the narrower portion of the slot.

2. A plate metal post or spacing member of, curved form, provided withlocking tongues punched from the metal of said member and extendinglengthwise thereof,

said tongues and slots being wide at their free ends and narrowerintermediate their ends and the slots ad acent the1r bases beingjwidened, whereby a tongue can be entered into and locked in a slotwithout twisting by entering its widened end portion through the widenedbase portlon of a slot and movingthe end of the tongue to bring itswidened portion behind the narrower portion of the slot.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

MARTIN E. EVANS.

' copies of this patent may he obtained forf fiye cents each, byaddressing th c mmissioner of Patents,

' r r Wflrashingto'n, D. C.

